I was very excited to try the new restaurant, Bacardi at the Park, when I went to the Sox game last night. Located right next to Gate 5, this hip-interior sports bar has a fun atmosphere and good beer.
Gibson's Restaurant Group owns Bacardi at the Park. They have a small menu with typical bar food including brisket nachos, a barbecue pulled pork sandwich, and smoked baby-back ribs. The food is priced between $7-10.
I was unfortunately in a hurry and could only try the brisket nachos.
The nachos took less than 10 minutes to arrive to my bar seat.
They do have very good service.
Chicago has well-developed neighborhoods for Chinese, Southeast Asian and Korean goods, but if you are yearning for Japanese items, your best bet is to scour the dusty back shelves of general Asian shops or take a trip to Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights. Thus, I was tickled to stumble upon a new kid on the block, Kawaii Japanese Outlet, which just opened about six weeks ago. Located in the middle of University Village on Halsted, Kawaii's warm, brightly lit storefront will transport you to the land of the rising sun, with the beats of J-pop playing on the speakers.
The offerings here include assorted sundries that you never knew you needed, like Hello Kitty tote bags, laundry baskets, a vast array of fake eyelashes and other efficiency gadgets that are the cornerstone of Japanese products. There are wall hangings, office supplies, and beauty supplies, all with a Japanese bent. Needless to say, everything in sight is kawaii, or cute to the max.
What does this have to do with you, foodies? Well, in addition to the other neat items, they have a decent selection of cooking utensils and dry goods. You can pick up all the basics here, like sushi mats, rice paddles, knives and ladles. With the Japanese love for compact storage and packaging, you will not be surprised to find a large assortment of heavy-duty tupperware and other specialized food containers. There is also a well-thought-out section of snack and dry goods, where you can get dashi powder, instant miso soup base, soba noodles, and Hello Panda shortbread biscuits. Mochi ice cream is available in a handful of flavors.
Nightwood is a relatively recent addition to the neighborhood of Pilsen, brought to you by the owners of Logan Square's Lula Cafe. With a market-driven contemporary American menu that changes daily, the restaurant has been hailed as a diverse bite in a sea of tacquerias. Their Sunday brunch service is an even newer phenomenon, having been around only since mid-August.
Located on an otherwise quiet stretch of Halsted, Nightwood attracts a trendy crowd of discerning locavores and fixie-riding hipsters. On this particular visit, I arrived bright and early at 10 am, out of fear that Nightwood would be swamped with Bongo Room-esque lines. Much to my happy surprise, we were able to get a table without a wait, but I expect the crowds to build in coming months as the secret gets out. In the meantime, there is ample street parking near the restaurant.
My jaw dropped when I first heard the news in June--a five-course dinner for a mere $20? How does that even begin to cover food costs? Review after review urged readers to run, don't walk to Han 202, Bridgeport's newest Asian fusion restaurant with an incredible recession-friendly deal. To further sweeten the pot, the restaurant is even BYOB. I picked up the phone and held my breath, hoping that all the positive press wouldn't make it impossible to snag a table.
This is when I discovered a new wrinkle: Han 202 only takes parties up to four people, no more. Unfortunately, I had guests visiting from out of town, and we totaled five. Were they serious about only serving groups up to four people? How small was this dining room, anyway? What if I volunteered to sit on a lap? I debated my options and decided that if they were adamant on putting their foot down, we could always go down the street to Ed's Potsticker House. I called back and reserved a table for four.
My first encounter with the Maxwell Street Market, I am ashamed to say, came in the heat of road rage. What on earth is going on, I said to myself, why did they block off traffic for this ridiculous display of dilapidated pick-up trucks and pirated DVDs? I fumed silently. A man with a walker surpassed me.
Later, I was informed that the mysterious road closure was due to the long-running Maxwell Street Market. Despite not being located on Maxwell Street for quite some time now (the market is now in its third location), the market has kept its name and stayed close to its original roots as Chicago's premier open-air bazaar and flea market. In over 100 years of operation, the market has always been a hotbed of immigrant vendors who will gladly "cheat you fair." This is the one place in Chicago where you can buy cherries, used books and a washing machine, all in one location.
Recently, I've been reading Fuchsia Dunlop's Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, her memoirs as the first Westerner to enroll at the Sichuan Culinary Institute. The novel is a fascinating page-turner for anyone interested in food or China and its accompanying history. As Dunlop wrote about the half a dozen ways to stir fry, or the canon of 23 complex flavors of Sichuan cuisine, I was struck by how little I actually know about Chinese cooking. Even the phrase "Chinese cooking" is a misnomer because the regional schools of cuisine vary tremendously. Aside from her experiences as a student and researcher, Dunlop weaves in anecdotes on the history of Chinese cuisine and food culture. If you are confused by the use of MSG in Chinese cooking, or don't understand the appeal of chicken feet or other offal items, do take a peek for insights into the Chinese mindset.
Of course, all this means that I have been ravenously craving Sichuan food for the last few days. And what better place to satiate that craving than perennial Chicago favorite Lao Sze Chuan? As a matter of fact, owner/chef Tony Hu is also a graduate of the aforementioned Sichuan Culinary Institute, though he was probably long gone by the time Dunlop arrived.
Previously Reviewed May 18th 2008
For the last week or so, I've been seriously jonesing for some xiao long bao, or soup dumplings. What's that, you say? The xiao long bao is a Shanghai specialty, a bite-size morsel of fatty pork in a semi-transluscent dough wrapper. These are typically steamed over napa leaves in bamboo steamers, and as a result, the dumpling contains a rich, meaty broth that explodes in your mouth as you bite in. The trick is to carefully pick up the dumpling and place it in a soup spoon, so that you don't lose any of the broth inside. Cut with vinegared soy sauce, I could easily make an entire meal out of only soup dumplings. By far the best dumplings I have tasted come from Joe's Shanghai in New York. (If you stop by Joe's, I recommend braving the crowds and going to the Chinatown location.) Hoping to find a substitute closer to home, I decided to stop by Lao Shanghai to check out their offerings. How does Lao Shanghai hold up against its East-coast competition?
Great burgers at a great price... three kinds of meat lends a nice anisey-herby flavor. Nobody said that they come with fries! 500 S. Dearborn- Split the cab, it's worth it.
At the beginning of this year I spent some time in Shanghai and since have been ingratiating myself on unsuspecting Chinese waitstaff looking for xiao long bao – the single best tasting morsel of food I had on my travels. Lao Shanghai is the only place in Chicago to try this dish.
One of my pet peeves is messy food. For some reason my reaction is completely out of my control. Why I ordered the plum short ribs AND the spicy whole-shrimp and tofu was beyond me. My "issue" nearly trumped the fact that I finally got my chopsticks on some Xiao Long Bao!
Lao Shanghai is in the mall on Archer and Cermak. There are tons of restaurants from Spring World to Joy Yee. In light of the earthquake they all have Sichuan Relief Fund collection boxes as well. The small restaurant tightly fits 52 at capacity. It's snug but not too loud and doesn't seem to suffer any service or kitchen problems.
We ordered too quickly. Once I saw the soup dumplings I resorted to auto-pilot. Short ribs? Hell yeah. Tofu and Shrimp. Done. I give my wife crap about her reticence to eat things that are on-the-bone. That said we both enjoyed the short ribs. The sweet plum sauce was wonderful. The deep fried goodness was a diet-meltdown but none-the-less tasty. The shrimp and tofu dish came in a mini-wok and I had to blow out the sterno a few minutes later to keep it from burning. The whole shrimp covered in sauce looked wonderful but I quickly gave that up. I'd need about 17 napkins, a lobster bib and an after-dinner bath to make that work. It's in the fridge for dinner tomorrow.
Recent Comments